HPRgument Blog — April 19, 2010 7:40 pm

Ousted for Being Gay?

By Jimmy Wu

Such a headline is perhaps not so surprising coming from elements of the Republican Party’s religious right, see Larry Craig. The uneasy balance of openly and forcefully opposing gay marriage while still attempting to be accepting of gay Republicans like the Log Cabin Republicans has made it difficult for many leaders. The fact remains that being exposed as a gay Republican can have electoral ramifications and lead to political exile. However, a report from Duke University suggests that Justin Robinette, chair of the Duke College Republicans was impeached and removed from office after his sexual orientation was revealed to other members of the student group. Admittedly, the article and another one from nearby UNC do not completely resolve the issue as to whether or not sexual orientation played a role in the ouster, yet many of the facts cause some unease. For one, the impeachment came just three weeks after Mr. Robinette was re-elected to the position in an uncontested race. Furthermore, a vice-chair of the club claims that other members approached him to discuss Robinette’s sexual orientation prior to the impeachment vote.

As a dues-paying member of the Harvard Republicans Club, these accusations are worrisome. College Republicans are an essential part of the party network, providing energy, enthusiasm, and future leaders for our country. From experience, I can attest to the diversity of college Republicans throughout the country. These student organizations are the foundations and grassroots of the big-tent Republican Party, one that accepts people of all different backgrounds and views. It is clear that the Harvard Republicans and other campus Republican organizations have a large diversity of opinion and represent the impressive dynamic of the party throughout the country. The situation at Duke clearly detracts from the core message of the Republican Party: restoring freedoms by removing the burden of government. For the party to move on, it must hold firm to its values, not compromising on issues due to political expedience, and continue to offer compelling alternatives to Big Government liberals. But, it must also be a more accepting party and put aside potentially divisive and negative attacks on those of different shades. For Republicans are not defined by their gender, or sexuality, or religion, or socioeconomic status, but rather by the unfailing faith in America and her people.

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Author: Jimmy Wu '12 was World Editor of the Harvard Political Review in 2011. He is a economics concentrator living in Winthrop House (Lions for the Cup!). Born in China, Jimmy moved to the U.S. at age four and has lived in New York every since. He is a passionate Yankees fan, along with a supporter of the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers. Jimmy enjoys The West Wing, Chuck and many other T.V. shows. He also enjoys traveling to many different parts of the world.
  • Duke

    There was no homophobia involved. Justin was removed from office because he was a bad leader and a bully. The reason nobody ran against him three weeks prior was because by that point he had driven all of his opponents out of the club by harassing them or amending the constitution to have them removed. After he was re-elected, the Duke CRs realized that his amendments were unfair and reversed them, allowing people to return and the impeachment proceedings to begin.

    Justin is an incredibly manipulative and disturbed individual and he is now using the gay community to disguise the fact that he was a terrible chairman. He is running for a stugov office at Duke and he knew that his campaign would be ruined if people found out that he was being impeached, so he concocted this bigotry story and relied on blogs like this to do the rest for him.

    I urge you all to stop passing judgement without having all the facts. At least wait until the Duke honor court makes a ruling on the matter. At this point all you have is Justin’s claim against others, and the burden of proof is on HIM, not on the club to prove that they aren’t bigots.

  • HarvMed

    It’s almost as if we’ve learned nothing from the Duke Lacrosse Rape Hoax. If there is a compelling storyline, everyone assumes that an accusation is true.

    There is more here than meets the eye.

  • Concerned

    All this proves is that with enough money and political allies you can make anything happen. He got voted against 3-1 Hmmm…. Republicans bring a lot of money to Duke, You wouldn’t want to upset them now would you??? Voting for Mr. Robinette would cause the club the get its charter revoked. I’m sure the professional advisors to the committee stressed that point over and over.

    There is MUCH more here than meets the eye.

  • Tarheel

    There is MUCH more to this story.

    The Duke College Republicans did a nice little job of trying to keep their dirty work under wraps. Mr. Robinette wasn’t really impeached from the club, per se, but just from the Executive Board. Which the vice-chair, mentioned in the article, and other senior officers, serve on and were approached about Mr. Robinette being a “faggot.” 5 other Executive Board officers and some club members immediately resigned, in writing. The Executive Board, Mr. Robinette testified, changed the constitution of the College Republicans to read that impeachment did not “require 2/3 of the entire club after a 2-week period where grievances are presented and the hearing time is scheduled” but instead required a mere 2/3 vote of the Executive Board, on the spot. This amendment was passed minutes before Mr. Robinette’s impeachment on April 14, and Mr. Robinette submitted a tape of his impeachment meeting as evidence to the Duke students responsible for hearing his discrimination claim. So, the rest of the club wasn’t even told Mr. Robinette was being impeached (for any reason, let alone being gay), and Mr. Robinette also presented emails in which Executive Board officers continued to harass him and force him to resign, so that the club could be told their leader had merely “resigned.” Investigations have taken place into additional reported incidents of blackmail, death threats, and harassment by Executive Board officers of the club (http://www.towleroad.com/2010/06/gay-duke-student-says-university-negligent-in-response-to-homophobic-hate-speech-harassment.html, http://www.queerty.com/dukes-ousted-college-republicans-chief-still-being-targeted-with-fun-campus-graffiti-20100617/, http://www.chronicle.duke.edu/article/anti-gay-graffiti-bridge-re-ignites-dcr-controversy).

    2 more gay members of the Duke College Republicans have also come forward saying they had been only recently removed from the club, allegedly, they said, for supporting Mr. Robinette. The club changed its Constitution to vote out Mr. Robinette by a vote of 9 people, and no one else in the club was to be told about what was occurring. Those on the Executive Board who refused to vote against Mr. Robinette were also immediately removed from the Executive Board email list, and from the club. This is the reason the vice-chair was approached before the meeting, why Mr. Robinette was impeached, and why much more happened after the impeachment. The vice-chair cited above resigned immediately from the club. Another vice-chair resigned from the Board and the club immediately, and had the word “f*ggot” written across his dorm room. Another student had the word “n*gger” passed under her door by the club President and other officers, and the club sent a death threat to a club officer with the word “f*ggot.” The campus entrance was painted with a nice message reading “Lying Faggot Robinette, DCR = Righteous, Get AIDS in Hell,” another former club member got a death threat, and Mr. Robinette was allegedly told, “it is not so easy painting over a DEAD faggot.” According to Mr. Robinette, the university was made aware of the situation, but told those responsible to continue trying to contact Mr. Robinette and resigned DCR officers to resolve the matters personally. Good work, guys. Applause, all around, for a job well done by Duke University.

    Go Heels.

  • no story

    In the end (see Duke Chronicle) it turned out Justin was created a lie about the reason he was impeached. He was a bully and created one of the most hostile environments ever seen on campus. The exec board got fed up with his misdeeds and he was impeached. Every single fact finding body on campus (Judiciary, Student Conduct, DUPD) found Duke College Republicans to be innocent. Justin slandered a lot of good people in this process.

  • Guest

     Sorry, I think you made a typo at the end of your article. The correct version would be:For Republicans are defined by their gender, sexuality, religion, and socioeconomic status, not by by the unfailing faith in America and her people.

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